July 13, 2022
Courtesy of/Mural City Garden
Queer Candle Co. is hosting an LGBTQ pop-up flea market at Mural City Gardens on Saturday, July 23 from 1 to 8 p.m. 15 artists and small business owners will be featured.
A pop-up flea market highlighting local and regional LGBTQ+ small business owners is headed to the recently-opened Mural City Gardens from 1 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 23.
The wine garden officially opened late last month, as the owners of Mural City Cellars took over a vacant lot on Frankford Avenue in Kensington. In addition to selling the locally-sourced wines its best known for, Mural City Gardens also sells beer, non-alcoholic drinks, and snacks.
Philly Queer Flea will be one of Mural City Gardens' first vendor events, and is free to attend. Organizers encourage visitors to donate to the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, which owns the space.
The flea market is being hosted by Ab Gibson and Alyssa Rose, the owners of Queer Candle Co., a candle-making business founded in 2017 in New York City. There, the couple got involved with Brooklyn Queer Flea, and after moving to Philadelphia in 2021, decided to bring the event to the city.
"We hope for this to be a way that visitors can be introduced to brands they may not know yet and intentionally support queer-owned businesses year round, not just during Pride month," said Rose. In its vendor application, Philly Queer Flea notes that it wants to foster a sense of community among queer creators and small business owners.
The full list of vendors being featured at the flea market are listed below.
• Queer Candle Co.: Hand-poured soy wax candles
• Sacred Drip: Jewelry and spiritual adornments
• Hannah Via Art: Tufted rugs and home decor
• Toxic Femme: Apparel company with a focus on punk, goth, and metal aesthetics
• Bleed Your Heart Out Glass: Small-batch stained glass business
• Damien Moses: Paintings
• Which Moss: Printmaking, paintings, and digital art
• Eunoamia: Handmade jewelry
• Big Red Prints: Screen prints and candles
• Snug Baby: Small-batch, hand-blended nail polish
• M the Sagittarius: Beaded handbags
• Two Cryptids: Prints, enamel pins, and other graphic art
• Sour Lemons: Crochet, knitwear
• Beloved Pots: Functional pottery
• Leann the Illustrator: Art and apparel, available in-store at The Shoppes at Medford Mill
For those who can't make it to the July flea market, Rose and Gibson are hosting a second pop-up market on Sept. 10 at Love City Brewing. Queer artists and small business owners who want to participate can check out this Instagram post for more details.
What's important to Gibson and Rose as members of the LGBTQ+ community and as small business owners is giving back.
That's why 10% of the monthly earnings from their online store are donated to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a New York-based nonprofit that ensures all people are free to determine their gender identity and expression without fear of harassment, violence, or discrimination.
Saturday, July 23, 2022
1 to 8 p.m. | Free, pay-as-you-go
Mural City Gardens
2211-17 Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19125
